USFM 3.0 provides a general syntax for indicating the start and ending milestones for a span of text, where the boundaries of the content being marked may cross one or more paragraph boundaries.

A milestone type markup is required when a document has two or more structures that interact in a non-hierarchical manner. This is also referred to as overlapping or concurrent markup. A principle example of this type of overlapping structure in scripture text is the contrast between 1) the paragraph structures used to express the discourse / narrative of the text and 2) the division of the text into books, chapters and verses. In scripture texts encoded using USFM (and similarly also in USX), the paragraph level markup forms the main structure of the document, while chapter and verse markers are effectively a milestone type.

Another example of an overlapping structure exists when there is a need to indicate the start and end of the quotations of the “actors” who are speaking within the text. These spans of text will commonly cross paragraph boundaries.

Milestones follow a syntax similar to the current character level markup. The significant distinguishing feature is that milestones introduce a new self-closing syntax. This self-closing syntax is the feature which identifies the marker as a milestone. A milestone will mark a single position within the text, or the position of the start or end of a span of text. It does not strictly contain the text, as with a regular character level markup.

A benefit of the self-closing marker syntax is that it also results in a shorter marker string.

Self closing markup is indicated by immediately terminating the marker, and any attributes, with a backslash plus asterisk.

Following the syntax for word level attributes, the following optional attributes can be added to any USFM milestone marker.

sid:

A unique identifier which can be used to unambiguously identify the starting milestone, and to clearly associate the starting milestone with the ending milestone (eid).
The sid can be composed of any mixture of numbers, letters, and underscores, and should be a unique sid throughout the scripture text.

eid:

A unique identifier which can be used to unambiguously identify the ending milestone, and to clearly associate the ending milestone with the starting milestone (sid).
If a sid attribute is used for the starting milestone in a milestone pair, the ending milestone must include eid.

Example:

\qt-s |sid="qt_123" who="Pilate"\*“Are you the king of the Jews?”\qt-e |eid="qt_123"\*

Additional attributes may be available for or required by a specific USFM milestone marker (e.g the use of the who attribute in the above quotation milestone example).

As with other USFM numbered markers, a numeric variable may be added to a milestone marker to indicate a relative weighting or level. In the example of the quotation / speaker milestone, a numbered version of the marker may be used to indicate the level of nesting of the quotation being marked (i.e. a quote within a quote).

The unnumbered version may be used when only one level of marker exists within the project text. Numbers should always be included when more than one level of the marker exists within the project text.

The following milestone markers are formally provided by USFM. The \z namespace should be used for any user generated milestone markup.

Quotation start / end milestones.
Typically used for indicating the speaker of the text.
The variable # represents the level of nesting of the quotation being marked (i.e. a quote within a quote). \qt-s\* = \qt1-s\*\qt-e\* = \qt1-e\* (see syntax notes on numbered markers)

\qt-s |sid="qt_123" who="Pilate"\*“Are you the king of the Jews?”\qt-e |eid="qt_123"\*

Text Samples

Matthew 27:11-14 (GNT) - Start and end quotation milestones using who attribute; no levels.

\v 11 Jesus stood before the Roman governor, who questioned him. \qt-s |who="Pilate"\*“Are
you the king of the Jews?”\qt-e\* he asked.
\p \qt-s |who="Jesus"\*“So you say,”\qt-e\* answered Jesus.
\v 12 But he said nothing in response to the accusations of the chief priests and elders.
\p
\v 13 So Pilate said to him, \qt-s |who="Pilate"\*“Don't you hear all these things they
accuse you of?”\qt-e\*
\p
\v 14 But Jesus refused to answer a single word, with the result that the Governor was greatly
surprised.

\p
\v 22 Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, \qt1-s |sid="qt1_ACT_17:22"
who="Paul"\*“I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious.
\v 23 For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship,
I found an altar on which is written, ‘To an Unknown God.’ That which you worship, then,
even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you.
\v 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does
not live in temples made by human hands.
\v 25 Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he
himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone
\v 26 From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout
the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places
where they would live.
\v 27 He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt
around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us;
\v 28 as someone has said,
\q1 \qt2-s |who="someone"\*‘In him we live and move and exist.’\qt2-e\*
\b
\m It is as some of your poets have said,
\q1 \qt2-s |who="some poets"\*‘We too are his children.’\qt2-e\*
\b
\m
\v 29 Since we are God's children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like
an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by human art and skill.
\v 30 God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of
them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.
\v 31 For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of
a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!”
\qt1-e |eid="qt1_ACT_17:22"\*

The sid and eid attributes in the above example have been formed using a combination of the milestone type and start milestone reference.

Translator’s section start / end milestones.
For identifying a section (chunk) of text suitable for translating at one time.

Text Samples - Jude 5-8, ULB - using standalone milestones

\ts\*
\p
\v 5 Now I wish to remind you, although you know everything, that the Lord once saved a
people out of the land of Egypt, but that afterward he destroyed those who did not believe.
\v 6 And angels who did not keep to their own principality, but left their proper dwelling
place—God has kept them in everlasting chains in darkness for the judgment of the
great day.
\ts\*
\v 7 It is just like Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, which in a similar way
gave themselves over to fornication and pursued unnatural desires. They were given as
examples of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
\v 8 Yet in the same way these also pollute their bodies in their dreams, and they reject
authority, and they say evil things about the glorious ones.
\ts\*

Jude 5-8, ULB - using milestone pairs

\ts-s|sid="ts_JUD_5-6"\*
\p
\v 5 Now I wish to remind you, although you know everything, that the Lord once saved a
people out of the land of Egypt, but that afterward he destroyed those who did not believe.
\v 6 And angels who did not keep to their own principality, but left their proper dwelling
place—God has kept them in everlasting chains in darkness for the judgment of the
great day.
\ts-e|eid="ts_JUD_5-6"\*
\ts-s|sid="ts_JUD_7-8"\*
\v 7 It is just like Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, which in a similar way
gave themselves over to fornication and pursued unnatural desires. They were given as
examples of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
\v 8 Yet in the same way these also pollute their bodies in their dreams, and they reject
authority, and they say evil things about the glorious ones.
\ts-e|eid="ts_JUD_7-8"\*